


Febuwhump 2021

by redrobinhood



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: FebuWhump2021, Hurt/Comfort, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:46:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 13,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29148411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redrobinhood/pseuds/redrobinhood
Summary: Febuwhump 2021 participation.Individual stories have their own warnings listed with them in chapter and in index. Main characters and pairings are tagged in order of character prevalence. All information, including characters, pairings, warnings, descriptions, etc., is indexed.
Relationships: Barriss Offee & Ahsoka Tano, CC-1010 | Fox & CC-3636 | Wolffe, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CC-5052 | Bly/Aayla Secura, CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano, Finn & CT-6116 | Kix, Riyo Chuchi & CC-4477 | Thire, Riyo Chuchi/CC-1010 | Fox
Comments: 43
Kudos: 92
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	1. Index

**Author's Note:**

> So as to not clog up the AO3 tags, and so as to provide the best reading experience, the index is a summary of every work included and lists out the all characters, pairings, and triggers so that you may make an informed decision about what you would like to read. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, or for more summary/description if you are unsure if you would like to approach something. I can also be reached on Tumblr at redrobinhoods if you’d like to DM me.
> 
> Now complete. Due to personal reasons, I wasn't able to write for every day. But, nonetheless, I really enjoyed writing for this event and I'm glad I was able to do as much as I could!

DAY 1: Mind Control 

  * TW: None
  * CC-2224 | Cody & CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
  * CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo, CC-2224 | Cody, Wilhuff Tarkin
  * Description: Echo discovers how his rewiring effects his ability to receive orders.



DAY 2: “I can’t take this anymore” 

  * TW: Attempted suicide
  * Riyo Chuchi / CC-1010 | Fox
  * CC-1010 | Fox. Riyo Chuchi
  * Description: Fox’s psyche breaks after killing Fives



DAY 3: Imprisonment

  * TW: None
  * CT-6116 | Kix
  * Description: Kix wakes up



DAY 4: Impaling

  * TW: Character death
  * CC-5052 | Bly/Aayla Secura
  * Aayla Secura, CC-5052 | Bly, CT-6734 | Galle, CT-41/14-0301 | Barr
  * Description: Aayla leads a squad of her best men to infiltrate a Separatist base.



DAY 5: “Take me instead”

  * TW: None
  * CC-2224 | Cody / Obi-Wan Kenobi
  * CC-2224 | Cody, Obi-Wan Kenobi. CT-7567 | Rex
  * Description: Obi-Wan embarks on a suicide mission



DAY 6: Insomnia

  * TW: None
  * CT-7567 | Rex, CT-6116 | Kix. CT-5597 | Jesse, CT-5555 | Fives
  * Description: Following Umbara, Rex can’t sleep.



ALT 1: Truth serum

  * TW: None
  * Leia Organa, CC-2224 | Cody
  * Description: A purge trooper commander oversees an Alderaanian princess’ interrogation.



DAY 8: “Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep”

  * TW: None
  * CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano
  * CT-7567 | Rex, Ahsoka Tano, Padme Amidala
  * Description: Rex fights for the people General Skywalker loves when he is not there to do so himself.



DAY 9: Buried alive

  * TW: Graphic descriptions
  * CT-5597 | Jesse, CT-7567 | Rex, Ahsoka Tano
  * Description: Three survivors of the _Tribunal_ try to come to terms with the wreckage following Order 66.



DAY 10: “I’m sorry. I didn’t know”

  * TW: Character death
  * Barriss Offee & Ahsoka Tano
  * Barriss Offee, Ahsoka Tano
  * Description: Ahsoka is confronted by a new inquisitor.



DAY 11: Hallucinations

  * TW: None
  * Riyo Chuchi / CC-1010 | Fox
  * Riyo Chuchi, CC-1010 | Fox, Commander Thorn, CC-4477 | Thire
  * Description: Riyo receives an evening comm from Thorn about Fox and an accident.



ALT 2: “I can’t lose you too”

  * TW: None
  * CC-6116 | Kix & Finn
  * CC-6116 | Kix, Finn
  * Description: Kix and Finn are sent to search for information in the wake of a First Order massacre.



DAY 13: Hiding injury

  * TW: None
  * Riyo Chuchi & CC-4477 | Thire
  * Riyo Chuchi, CC-4477 | Thire, CC-5869 | Stone
  * Description: Riyo asks Thire to accompany her on a trip to the market.



DAY 14: “I didn’t mean it”

  * TW: None
  * CC-1010 | Fox & CC-3636 | Wolffe
  * CC-3636 | Wolffe, CC-1010 | Fox.
  * Description: Fox and Wolffe argue



DAY 28: “you have to let me go”

  * TW: Character Death
  * CC-2224 | Cody / Obi-Wan Kenobi
  * CC-2224 | Cody, Obi-Wan Kenobi
  * Description: A stormtrooper is sent to kill a Jedi.




	2. Mind Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echo discovers how his rewiring effects his ability to receive orders

He didn’t know when it began.

He only knew that a new set of orders had come over his comm as he sat on his bunk, polishing his newly painted helmet. He knew those orders, at least. They had been drilled into his head, one through one hundred and fifty. Contingencies. The arrest of the Chancellor, the destruction of worlds, the proper way to scuttle a star destroyer, the elimination of the Jedi. That last one had seemed far more mundane in a training scenario, surrounded by another hundred and forty-nine ways to kills oneself.

He didn’t know when it began, but he knew how. With a nosebleed.

Echo stumbled out into the hall of the _Havoc Marauder_ , gripping his nose tight in an attempt to stop the flow from dripping everywhere. When he ran into Tech, nearly knocking the other man down, the unordinary silence that greeted him was not noticed. Not until he was bent over the sink in the refresher with vacc tube paper shoved up his nostrils as he waited the bleeding out. Only then, staring into his strange reflection, did the moment strike him as odd.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, though opening his appearance up to personal attack, he stepped out of the refresher and back into the hall. “Tech?”

Silence greeted him in a ship that was never silent.

Echo made his way down the hall to the bridge, where he breathed a sigh of relief to find the rest of his squad.

“Look, Tech. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to-, where are we going?”

“Kashyyyk. You heard the order.” Hunter answered him.

“Not enough of it apparently.”

“One of the Jedi escaped, we’re going to track it down.” Crosshair answered in the same flat tone that Hunter had used.

“Right.” Echo turned back from his brothers and made his way back to the refresher. The nosebleed had stopped, but he had a feeling that it was the least of his worries at the moment.

“Are you deaf, trooper?”

“No, sir.” Not yet, but the ache in his head threatened it.

“Then _execute_ the order.”

Echo stood still, how could he execute an order when there was no being that pertained to it? “I don’t understand.”

“Are you defective?” Tarkin hissed in his face.

He still didn’t understand why he had been singled out, dragged from the parade drill into a back room. They had been given an order to stand down, and somehow he had failed.

“Clone, execute order three.”

Echo pulled his shoulder blades tighter as he tried to force his already perfect posture into something better. He’d never failed at the contingency orders before, he didn’t understand why this wasn’t good enough for Tarkin now. But there was something in the other man’s face as he searched Echo’s eyes that he couldn’t read, some inexplicable anger. Echo had nearly died once to save this man’s life.

The nosebleed was returning now. His blood splashed down onto the cold plastoid that encased his chest. He didn’t want to break his stance to clean it, so it ran down his armor in rivulets.

“You are defective.” Tarkin sneered before turning to face the silhouette that had appeared in the doorway of the room. “Commander, good. This clone here…”

Tarkin’s voice began to fade out in the moments before Echo felt himself slam into the ground. The shift in gravity brought the blood down into his throat, and he found himself spitting it up as he tried to push himself back up. He wasn’t defective, he had to prove that he wasn’t defective. But his hand just slipped on the smooth floor without any strength behind it.

“Easy, trooper, easy.” The voice of one of his brothers came to him.

Echo felt a set of arms wrap around his chest and bring him up so that his head lolled against the shoulder pad of a set of greys.

“Commander, take this clone away for decommissioning.”

“He’s not defective.” The commander’s voice vibrated in his chest against Echo. “If you’d read his file, you’d see that. The wiring of the Techno Union implants prohibits the use of the word ‘execute’ when giving him direct orders.”

“And do you expect me to read the file of every single clone in this facility?”

“No, only the ones that our commanding officers requested that I leave on your desk for your understanding.”

Tarkin was silent, and Echo found it in him to open his eyes just enough to see the curve of his brother’s jaw before him.

“In the future, you are to verbally notify me of all such requests.”

“Yes, sir.”

Echo closed his eyes again as he listened to Tarkin’s footsteps fade as the man left the room.

“Echo, Echo, are you with me?”

“Mm.” Echo groaned as the commander adjusted his hold.

“I’ve got you, kid. I’ve got you. Rex would kill me if I ever let anything happen to you.”

And Echo understood why the hands that wrapped around him were so gentle. They had been the same ones that had given his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as Rishi Station had fallen into pieces around them, after the battle of Kamino, in the medical facility on Anaxes. “Cody.”

“Yeah. C’mon.” Cody threw Echo’s arms around his neck before he rose, clutching Echo tight to his chest. “Let’s get you to the medbay.”

Echo tightened his grip around Cody’s neck as best he could given the cheap fabric. “What did he want from me?”

“I wish I knew, kid. I wish I knew.”

And for a moment more, Echo regretted the blood he was spilling on Cody’s greys. Then he gave in and allowed himself to relax in Cody’s arms. He was safe here.


	3. "I can't take this anymore"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fox’s psyche breaks after killing Fives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Attempted suicide

Fox’s eyes flit around his small office as he walked back into the room. Smooth surfaces, soft edges, items suited only for papercuts and headaches. Bare walls, recessed lights, a legless desk with edges that stretched around three sides. Childproof. The room was childproof. And Fox had never been a child.

He discarded his helmet on the closest vacant flat surface he could find, the top of a cabinet, and fell to his knees before his chair, letting his head fall limp onto the seat.

He’d called Riyo on the way back to the office, sitting alone in the back of the patrol transport, just to hear her voice. To tell her that he loved her. To regain some sense of his humanity. But that was, and would continue to be, the sticking point. The words _clone_ and _humanity_ did not go together as well as _clone_ and _weapon_ did. And orders. _Clone_ and _orders_ were made for each other. But he’d let Riyo fret over him, make him promises, try to form excuses. She had been able to justify his actions so quickly that it scared him.

He had been a threat; to Palpatine, to the Republic. Fox had had no choice.

Those were the lies he had been told; by Palpatine, by Riyo, by himself. There were no innocent beings on Coruscant.

He had told Riyo that he loved her.

He brought one arm onto the seat of the chair to rest his head on, there was no reason not to be comfortable, and let his other hand fall down to grip his blaster. Resting his finger against the trigger-guard, he unholstered the pistol and prayed that Riyo would forgive him. He knew that Thorn wouldn’t. The press of the muzzle was cool against the side of his temple, and when he closed his eyes, he could pretend it was Riyo’s touch as he let his finger fall to the trigger then willed his muscles to depress it. They refused. The same hand, the same blaster, that had so willingly fired on his brother hours ago, would not move. He tried again, shoving the front of his blaster into his mouth until he was choking on the muzzle. Still, his blood-soaked hands would not budge for him.

Only instinct stopped him from throwing the blaster across the room instead of returning it to its holster.

This was wrong.

But he didn’t know how.

Whether it was wrong to attempt to kill himself in the same manner as he had his brother or whether it was wrong that the conditioning of his younger years would always prevent him from pulling the trigger on himself.

Fox’s eyes scanned the room once more. No hooks, or knobs, or any fixture he could throw a noose around greeted him. A childproof room suited for men who had never been children. He had a razor, in Riyo’s apartment, but he couldn’t stand to let her bear witness to his crime. Destruction of Republic property was a crime after all, one he was still willing to commit.

Most illicit substances that they confiscated were destroyed immediately. Most.

Fox returned to his office with a bottle of various pills. Painkillers, sleeping drugs, some little blue ones that he didn’t recognize but added to the bottle anyways.

The Kaminoans couldn’t condition them against eating.

When the bottle was empty, it found Fox doubled over with his forehead resting on the edge of his desk as he fought the urge to puke. He was tired, so tired. He just had to hold back the contents of his stomach long enough for him to fall asleep. That’s all it would take. One final fall into rest and he would be free. The Guard could live on without him, Riyo, though she would grieve terribly, would live on without him, only Thorn couldn’t. He would never forgive him. Fox could die with that knowledge.

As his senses began to fade away, he pictured the scene from that morning. Riyo’s bare body before him as she stretched out the kinks in her neck, caused from sleeping on his arm the night before. The pure love and adoration in her gaze as she looked down on him. The peace and happiness he had felt in that moment, with her hair brushing over the sides of his face as she leaned over him. He should’ve known then that it was the last time.

Fox came to on the floor in a puddle of cold vomit.

This was not the release that the bottle of pills had promised.

With shaking arms, he pushed himself into a seated position on the floor, only to double over once more to throw up stomach bile as his body tried to purge itself of everything he had put into it. It appeared to have been successful. He was still alive.

When he had stopped shaking enough to clean up the vomit, he lay back down on the floor again. He could still smell it, though perhaps that was him, but any evidence of the pills was now buried under disposable towels that no one would want to touch.

Maybe the pills would still kill him.

He doubted it.

His name falling from Riyo’s lips was a libation as she crossed the room to embrace him. Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around her and held her to his breast, breathing her in as he buried his face in her hair.

She would have heard about one of the things he had aimed his blaster at today.

She wouldn’t hear about the other.


	4. Imprisonment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kix wakes up

For the last time, Kix tugged on the cuffs that restrained him, that held him tight against the wall of the small cell he had been shoved into once the interrogation droid had been pleased with its work.

He had told them everything.

He knew that it wasn’t his fault, that he had been drugged, and yet, it was his fault. He had failed to see the truth, all along. He should have never let them take Tup from him. He should have stayed with Fives. And then, when he had everything, all the evidence he would need to convince Rex, to convince his general, he had been taken.

He had told them everything.

And they still didn’t believe him.

He’d heard some of their conversation. He was to be sent to Count Dooku, to be properly interrogated; not that the Separatist could get anything more from him than that damn droid had. But they didn’t believe that.

When the door to his cell opened, Kix didn’t fight as his wrists were freed momentarily before being shoved back behind his back and restrained once more. Maybe he deserved this, for being something so willing to betray his Jedi, for failing to deliver the truth to them, for damning his brothers. So he walked with a heavy head onto their ship, blindly following his droid escorts’ lead until he found himself in a chamber with a heavy, familiar smell.

“Wait, no.” He stopped, trying to dig his heels into the ground as the droids continued to pull on him. “This is unnecessary!” He had seen what cryo-cycle stasis could do to an organic being, to his own body. But he had already given into the droids, and they had the upper hand.

When the machine whirled to life, Kix closed his eyes and whispered a silent apology to Rex and to Jesse as he felt the cold seep into his bones.

He could still feel the cold.

It had been hours since he had been pulled out of the cruiser, onto a desert planet in a galaxy he no longer knew. Even though the warmth of the sun beat down on his ice-burned skin, he was cold. Or maybe it was pain. He had seen the patches of raw skin on his brothers after undergoing a cryo-cycle treatment for a few hours. He didn’t want to peel back his stasis suit to find out how raw fifty years had been.

Fifty years.

He slowly brought the breath mask up to his face, letting the warm air fill his lungs, reprieving them for a moment of the burn of the hot desert air in his chest. The sound of his inhale nearly masked the sounds of the argument inside. Nearly.

“How are you feeling?” The red twi’lek walked down the ramp of the ship to sit beside him. She had been the one to recognize the symptoms of stasis poisoning, giving him the mask back on the destroyed cruiser.

“Cold.” He rasped after drawing the breath mask away.

“That’s not what I meant.”

He had known that, but he had to buy himself the extra time to collect his thoughts. “Numb. I expected to wake up to torture, but nothing like this.” No pain that could have come from Dooku was comparable to that he was feeling now. He had always known of his and his brothers’ mortality, but never imagined that he would be the last one, let alone lose them all at once. “Have you heard from your captain?”

“Not yet. But we’ll wait.” She gestured out into the sand. “We’ve gotten out of tighter spots, he and I.”

Kix closed his eyes and tried to pull his thoughts away from another captain that he had known the day before, fifty years ago.

“What about you? What are you going to do?”

Kix didn’t have an answer for her. Merely shaking his head and turning his gaze back towards the sands. If he looked hard enough into the hot glass, he could see the shape of his brothers as they marched away.


	5. Impaling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aayla leads a squad of her best men to infiltrate a Separatist base

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Character death

She could feel his eyes on her.

She could always feel his eyes on her; focusing on the small of her back where her hips curved up to meet her spine. He wanted to touch her, to pull her to his chest and rest his hands where his eyes now lay and fall deep into her longing gaze. Preferably somewhere alone.

Bly’s next line of thought pulled her away from the mission entirely and she resisted the urge to turn around until her expression was under control once more.

“Credit for your thoughts, Commander Bly?” She asked as she spun around, causing the three men behind her to slow to a stop.

“This has been far too easy. My guess is that at the end of this hallway, there’s a few dozen clankers waiting for us.” And at the end of the day, a dozen more ideas on how to spend the night.

Aayla turned her involuntary reaction into a sly smile. “That should be enough to entertain you.”

Lieutenant Galle’s helmet slowly rose towards the ceiling. Aayla didn’t need the Force to sense his embarrassment over his commanding officers’ behavior.

“We’ll see.” Bly tapped his forearm to hers, the plastoid cold against her bare skin for a moment before it withdrew back to his side. A challenge.

“I’m not scanning any life forms in the control room ahead.” Lieutenant Barr sighed, breaking the tension. “But the walls are too thick here to scan for droids.”

Aayla rested her hand on her belt, drawing her lightsaber and giving it a twirl in her hand. “Then let’s prepare for the worst.” She turned back around and listened to the sound of her men readying themselves at her back as they made their way down the hall.

“Do you think there will be any droidekas, Commander?”

“No. You making bets, Galle?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll take it.”

“I haven’t even said the amount, Bly.”

“I’ll take it.”

Aayla allowed herself a chuckle. Technically, she and Bly were supposed to shut down any form of betting. But the odds had always been in Bly’s favour, so they had allowed the bets to persist. She couldn’t argue against them, after all, any ‘profits’ from his victories were shared with her or for her expense. It would be hypocritical.

At the doorway to the control room, she and Bly readied themselves on the left, with Galle and Barr across from them on the right, Galle’s hand on the door mechanism. When her lightsaber leapt to life in her hands, Galle opened the door and the four beings advanced into the room.

“It’s empty.” Aayla relaxed her stance as her eyes scanned the room.

“You should stop taking bets with me, Galle.” Bly teased as he stepped up to stand beside Aayla. “Credit for your thoughts, General Secura?”

“This has been far too easy.” She echoed in return. “It appears that your few dozen clankers are not here.”

“Guess our intel was wrong.” Bly continued to scan the room as Aayla made her way over to the central control console.

“Do you think there’s anything we can salvage?” Barr called to her as he examined the perimeter of the room.

“We’re about to find out.” She called back to him as her fingers skimmed the console controls. In the Force, she felt a rush of surprise from her men.

“General!”

She turned her head towards Galle, only to be greeted by a blur of white and gold before the breath was knocked out of her as Bly slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. For a moment, pain blocked her senses as it screamed from her lekku, pinched between her and the floor. Then she felt a pair of plastoid-covered hands on her as Barr gently lifted her torso from the ground, relieving the pressure in her head. As she became aware of her surroundings once more, she wished that he had left her without for a few moments longer.

Galle was kneeling on the floor with Bly laying still in his arms, the vocabulator in his helmet projecting his pained breaths as his chest rose and fell around the metal spike that had buried itself in his stomach.

A cry ripped from her throat as she realized that the spike had been meant for her.

She couldn’t move.

Bly said something she couldn’t make out through her injured lekku and Galle adjusted his hold on his commander so that he could remove his helmet. Though she still couldn’t hear his words, with his face bared she could make out her name falling from his lips.

It broke the spell.

Not daring to rise to her feet, she crawled over to Bly’s side, taking the weight of his upper shoulders into her arms and placing one of her hand to cover both of his, resting above and below the bloodying spike. She could feel Barr’s presence as he knelt behind her. “Bly.” She said, or, at least, she thought she did. A new fear rose in her as she realized that she wouldn’t be able to hear his last words.

But she didn’t need to hear to know that the next words he uttered were ‘I love you.’

She hesitated. Galle and Barr were still at their side. Then the hesitation faded as she realized that they had known. “And I love you.”

Bly continued to talk to her, even as his breathing stuttered and she felt his chest fighting for air under her touch, he continued with words that she couldn’t hear and lip movements that she couldn’t read. Then he stopped on the one word she knew. ‘Aayla.’

A water droplet landed on his gilded cheek. It took another falling for her to realize that she was the source.

Bly’s eyes searched her features, looking for something to hold onto, waiting for a response she couldn’t give him. A final affirmation of her before he let go.

Galle and Barr already knew.

She bent down and pressed her lips to his, letting herself fall away into his kiss as if it was the only thing left in the galaxy. For her, it may as well have been. For him, it was. Too soon, she felt his lips still under hers as he fell into unconsciousness. After that, the next few minutes stretched into an eternity as she watched his breaths grow more and more shallow until they stopped, and her strings were cut.


	6. "Take me instead"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan embarks on a suicide mission

Cody twirled the stylus between his fingers as his eyes skimmed over the contents of the datapad. This was supposed to be Obi-Wan’s duty, but his general was nowhere to be found. So, it fell to Cody as second-in-command to look over the legion’s acquisitions. He supposed now that this was why Obi-Wan had been so sweet to him just before he left.

He almost missed Waxer’s arrival. “Sir, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Cody glanced up from the datapad. “Then tell me.”

“The mission you deemed suicide, General Kenobi is going to act on it.”

And the reason for the sweetness became clear.

Cody flew to his feet, the datapad discarded. “Where is he?”

The hanger fell silent as Cody stormed in.

“Ah, Cody.” Obi-Wan greeted him sheepishly.

“What are you doing?” Cody hissed at him.

“I’m afraid that we’ve been given an ultimatum by the Chancellor.” Obi-Wan grimaced. “We have no choice, we must destroy the Separatist compound.”

“And when was I going to be informed? After you left?” The silence that greeted him was answer enough.

“I have orders, Cody.”

“And who are you taking to die with you?”

Obi-Wan turned his head to Wooley, checking over the gunship, then back to Cody.

“No.” Cody shook his head. “Take me instead.”

“Cody. We can’t both be-.”

“What example would I set for our men otherwise?” When Obi-Wan had no answer, Cody continued. “Wooley, you’re dismissed. Someone tell Waxer that he’s in charge until we get back.” Cody made his way over to the waiting gunship before glancing back at Obi-Wan. “Come, we have orders.”

Obi-Wan sighed and reluctantly joined Cody in the gunship. Only after the doors had closed and the ship rose into the air did he speak. “I must confess, I am glad that you’re going with me.”

Cody stepped forward into Obi-Wan’s space and brought up a hand to cup the other man’s jaw, bringing him in for a light kiss. “I would be glad to die by your side.”

“I love you too.” Obi-Wan’s smile could take away all of Cody’s nerves.

“I love you.” He whispered back before drawing Obi-Wan into a last kiss. “So, this mission.” He kept his face before Obi-Wan’s, refusing to leave his space. “Same plan as before? Plant the bombs, hide, and pray to the divinity of your choosing?”

“That about sums it up, yes.” Obi-Wan admitted. “It’s not ideal, but it’s all the Republic has.”

“We serve the Republic.” Cody said almost unconsciously, the dogma drilled into his head by hours of training. “But if we live, I’ll serve you tonight.”

“Cody!”

“Cody!” Obi-Wan’s scream cut through the wreckage of the compound, burning at the edges of Cody’s mind as he fought to return to consciousness.

“Obi-Wan.” He whispered, the already soft sound lost to the screech of the building as it fell apart.

But as if he had heard him, Obi-Wan was there at his side. He fell to his knees beside Cody, grimacing in pain and tightening his hold on his side as he bent down over Cody.

“Are you hurt?” Cody whispered. This time, it was heard.

“Just a flesh wound.” The hand which did not clutch at Obi-Wan’s side reached out and gently smoothed Cody’s hair; his helmet had been lost somewhere between the explosion and when he had hit the ground. “Cody.”

Cody closed his eyes to focus on Obi-Wan’s touch, but with the loss of his sight, there was nothing to distract him from his harsh, rasping breaths and he opened his eyes once more.

“Cody.” Obi-Wan said his name again as if just by voicing the name he could heal the man he loved.

“Time to pick my divinity, right?” Cody managed to get out before the slab of duracrete across his chest shifted with the collapsing building and he let out a cry of pain that left him panting for air.

Reaching a hand out to rest on the slab, Obi-Wan tapped into the Force to raise it the few inches Cody needed to draw breath, then ever so slowly move it to the side, freeing Cody’s torso from the rubble.

Without the pressure of the slab, the pain was becoming more acute with each heave of his chest, but Obi-Wan could never knew that he had brought him pain. “Thank you.” With his vision slowly returning to normal, Cody turned his gaze back to Obi-Wan’s side, where his tunic was reddening. “You’re bleeding.”

“Just a flesh wound.”

“Obi-Wan.” Cody had been around the other man long enough to know when he was lying. “You need to stop the bleeding, you-.”

“Sssssh.” Obi-Wan’s hand fell back to Cody’s hair. “I need to be by your side.”

Cody knew it was wrong, it was selfish, to put his own wants before Obi-Wan’s health. But he feared that this could be the last time he lay eyes on his love, and he wanted to die without regret. “Lay with me?”

Obi-Wan nodded and moved to be closer to Cody’s side before laying down beside him, keeping his injured side out of the dust that settled around them on the ground.

Cody turned his head to the side to look into Obi-Wan’s eyes. He couldn’t move his body to hold him, but just the warm presence at his side was enough to bring him comfort as a deep exhaustion tugged at his bones. “Will you stay?”

“Until the very end, my love.” Obi-Wan promised him, leaning his head forward until their foreheads met.

Cody closed his eyes and imagined himself melting into Obi-Wan’s embrace as he gave in.

He awoke with a jolt, startling Rex.

One arm held the faint prick of an IV, the other didn’t. It was that free arm which Cody brought over to his chest, where the pain had been before. His own continuing mortality established, his gaze to Rex. “Where’s Obi-Wan?”

“Turn your head slowly, he’s in the bed next to you.”

Cody obeyed, though with the effort and pain that arose from the motion, he wasn’t sure he could’ve done it any faster. But the sight of Obi-Wan, still unconscious and still so beautiful, was worth the pain. “He’s okay?”

“He’s okay. You’ll be out of here sooner, but you’ll both make a full recovery.” Rex assured him, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. “So, which divinity did you choose this time?”

Cody smiled and closed his eyes. “Him.”


	7. Insomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Umbara, Rex can't sleep.

24

When Rex’s alarm went off, it found him awake. Still, he rolled out of his bunk and grabbed the towel he had left draped over the chair at his desk the night before.

When he reached the showers, he was the only one there, as usual. And as usual, Fives was only one minute behind him. What was unusual was that Kix and Jesse were only one minute behind Fives.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Fives asked as Jesse stepped over to the tap beside him.

“No.” Jesse murmured as he turned on the water.

Kix shot his brother a sad look as he turned on the tap beside Rex before resting his arm against the tile wall and resting his forehead against it, letting the water flow down his back.

Rex closed his eyes and bent his head backwards so that the water flowed over his face. Maybe if he let it stay there long enough, it would wash away the dark circles under his eyes. Maybe if he really focused, he could wash away down the drain with it.

“You alright, Captain?” Jesse asked after it had become clear that Rex wasn’t resurfacing from the stream.

Rex took in a deep breath before turning off the tap. “I’m fine.”

28

Rex stared blankly into Cody’s helmet visor as Kix continued his report. He didn’t know if Cody ever returned his gaze, or if he was similarly staring into Rex’s visor, but the sight was better than the look of uncertainty on Kix’s face as he continued to recount Krell’s deeds to the Jedi present. Rex would be the second to last one to report, then Cody, who hadn’t been on the field of battle but had been the one to approve Waxer’s offensive against the 501st.

He had a feeling he hadn’t slept well either.

29

Rex could have drawn the chips in Cody’s helmet from memory as Jesse’s voice shook as he recalled the firing squad that had been pointed at him and Fives.

He should have stopped it.

He should have never put his men in the position that they had.

He should have been braver.

30

Rex had found a new place to rest his eyes, the orange stars that dotted the filters of Cody’s respirator, as Fives’ spoke softly, recalling Hardcase’s sacrifice.

He didn’t know that Fives could speak so softly. Perhaps, he should have known by now. He should have been there for him before.

Rex’s hands were beginning to shake.

He hoped it was from rage.

32

It took all of Rex’s strength to keep his voice level as he covered every order Krell had given to him, to his men.

He wasn’t strong enough to keep the quiver away when it came to his failure to stand up to Krell, to save Hardcase, to save his men from killing their own brothers, to save Dogma.

He had killed them all.

36

Rex’s hands continued to shake as he slowly brought the fork to his mouth.

“Is this seat taken?”

Rex slowly looked up at Kix, who already knew that the seat was available. No one wanted to eat with Rex after what had happened. “No.”

Kix fell down onto the bench opposite Rex and raised his fork to mirror the way Rex held his own. “You didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

“No, I didn’t.” Rex confided. There was no use lying to Kix.

“Neither did I. Just stared at the ceiling all night.” Kix brought his fork back down to his plate and pushed around the food that he had been given. “I can still hear them, you know.”

“I know.” He could hear them too.

37

Rex swirled the water in the cup around as he swallowed the pills that Kix had pressed into his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his medic doing the same before laying down to press his back against Jesse’s.

Rex set the cup down on the ground and fell back onto Kix’s bunk, staring up at the low ceiling above him. Around him, he could hear the sounds of his men breathing, so much louder than the silence that had swallowed him in his own bunk the night before.

He fought the exhaustion that the sleeping pill had brought to him as long as he could to hear those sounds of life.


	8. Truth serum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A purge trooper commander oversees an Alderaanian princess’ interrogation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playing with headcanons for this one

“Where is the Rebel base?” The droid prompted again, it’s instruments clattering around the princesses’ head.

To her credit, the commander thought, she remained silent.

“How many vials has that droid put in the broad?”

The commander titled his helmet in the stormtrooper’s direction, causing the other man to flinch. “The droid has administered two vials to the _senator_.” Despite the heaving filtering of his helmet, poison still dripped from his voice. “Four time the amount necessary for her body weight.”

“That must be painful, sir.” The stormtrooper said timidly.

“Excruciating.” The commander turned his head back to the screen where the scene played out. “Have you ever been administered truth serum?”

When the stormtrooper was silent, he continued.

“I have. A half dose alone will make you want to bash your brains out. I’m surprised she’s still conscious at this point.” And yet, the pain that Vader would soon inflict on her would be far more agonizing. The commander wouldn’t voice that part.

“Twenty-two.” The devil’s voice came over his comm.

“Lord Vader.” He responded. “She’s still resisting.” Twenty-two years of service at the man’s side, if he could still be called a man, had accustomed him to the desire behind Vader’s communiques.

“Bring her to the bridge.” The labored breathing stopped as Vader ended the comm.

Twenty-Two allowed himself a grimace beneath his helmet. “Trooper, take the IT-O unit out of the cell. Clean it and return it to its capsule.”

“And the senator?”

Twenty-two titled his helmet once more, and once more the man flinched. “She is not your concern.”

The stormtrooper scampered away without so much as a ‘sir, yes, sir’ for his commander. It was disgusting. The purge troopers under Twenty-Two would have never held such a callous disregard for authority. But they hadn’t accompanied he and Vader on this mission.

When the stormtrooper and the IT-O were out of sight on the screen, Twenty-Two made his way into the cell, where the still-conscious princess awaited him with a glare that reminded him of a senator he had once known, before he wore black armor. He couldn’t help but wonder if Senator Organa and Amidala had had an affair.

“Are you satisfied?” She asked before he had finished stepping into the cell.

“I’m following orders.” He responded. “We’re going to the bridge.”

“A scenic place for an interrogation as any.” She shot back before he had finished drawing in another breath.

Twenty-Two allowed the vocabulator to pick up his sigh. “You are scheduled to be terminated unless you divulge the location of the Rebel base. If you value your life, or that of your father’s, I’d start talking.”

“Is that a threat?” She growled even as she swayed on her feet as he released her cuffs from the restraints.

He set a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “I like you. You’ve got more spunk in you than any of the men I’ve trained under the Empire. But you need to pick your battles.”

“Kenobi will kill you all.” She murmured under her breath, so soft that he wasn’t sure if she knew that she had voiced it.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead. I killed him myself.”

She looked back at him with wide, furious eyes. “I hope you all burn.”

He did too, knowing what Vader and Tarkin planned to have occur.

But he had his orders, so he pressed a hand to her back and led her to a fate worse than death.


	9. "Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex fights for the people General Skywalker loves when he is not there to do so himself.

Every breath was an effort as Rex covered the body of his brother with the canvas sheet.

“What a waste.” Senator Amidala spat, the contentiousness in her tone nearly lost to the wheeze that followed it.

Rex sighed. “With all due respect, Senator, it’s what these men were born to do.”

“I hope that their sacrifice brings us closer to peace.” Even with the pale clamminess of the Blue Shadow Virus upon her face, Amidala was ever the composed senator.

“It will, Padme.” Ahsoka rasped before falling into a coughing fit. “You must believe…” Her eyes fluttered closed as she swayed on her feet.

Rex dove to catch her before she fell to the floor, gently bringing her head to rest against his pauldron. She was still so small, and the touch of her young frame under his hands reminded him that while she was a Jedi padawan, she was still a child.

Padme knelt beside them, resting her hand on Ahsoka’s neck and feeling for her pulse. “Still steady, but…” She let her voice trail off rather than give voice to her concern.

“General Skywalker and General Kenobi will come through.” Rex lowered himself to the ground, careful not to hurt Ahsoka in the process. “They would never leave you behind, Senator.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know.” A harsh cough ended his sentence. “Just a feeling, ma’am.”

Against his shoulder, Ahsoka’s breath was coming in harsh wheezes that shook her delicate frame. Rex’s grip unconsciously tightened around her shoulders. She was General Skywalker’s padawan, but she was also the 501st’s padawan, she was his to protect.

“She’sa shivering mighty bad.” The gungan joined their huddle with one of the canvas sheets that had been stacked in the corner of the room.

“Thank you.” Rex rasped as he took the sheet. He didn’t have the heart to tell Jar Jar that the shaking wasn’t from the cold, but he wrapped the cloth around Ahsoka anyways, causing her to stir under his touch.

“Rex, wha’s goin’ on?” She slurred.

“Nothing much. Just stay with me and Senator Amidala, alright?”

“Hey Ahsoka.” Amidala reached over and took the padawan’s hand as she smiled down at her. Then she swayed, and Rex reached up to steady her, helping her lower herself to the ground at his side.

When he turned back to Ahsoka, her eyes were fluttering closed once more. “Hey, hey, kid. This is no time to sleep.” He shook her gently, but this time she didn’t stir.

“Anakin will save us.” Padme said as if she could read the uncertainty in his mind. “I know he will.”

Rex may not have been familiar with Senator Amidala, but he would have been a fool to not notice the way that his general talked to her. For that reason, he offered his arm to her.

She curled up at his side without hesitation, resting her head on his shoulder and reaching over into his lap to take Ahsoka’s hand once more.

When another coughing fit wracked Rex’s body, he found himself too weak to raise his head again when the fit faded. His head was spinning as he struggled to stay conscious. He would not leave Amidala and Ahsoka alone under the watch of a gungan. But when he glanced to the side, he could see that Amidala’s eyes had already closed. Still, Rex fought to stay conscious as long as he could with two of the women that General Skywalker loved under his watch. Still, in the end, he gave into the virus that had killed his brothers and hoped that Skywalker would come through for them again.


	10. Buried alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three survivors of the Tribunal try to come to terms with the wreckage following Order 66.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the premise of my Whumptober 2020 No. 28.
> 
> Also, it would appear that Rex and Ahsoka's Venator from the TCW Season 7 finale has a name now!

He came to with the taste of death on his tongue. Something dry that coated his mouth and throat, expelling in a light cloud when he coughed. He regretted the action as soon as it had occurred, letting out a cry of pain as the reality of his situation came back to him.

They had been falling.

His hands fumbled for his stomach, sliding on the bloody gun barrel of the starship that had fallen onto him when the _Tribunal_ had lurched. His blood. He couldn’t believe that the amount wouldn’t soon be fatal and knew that his lifeblood would soon join that of his brothers around him. Their bodies had been lost to his sight, but their groans of pain had also been lost to his ears. Jesse knew that he was now the last trooper of the 501st, barring the traitor who had lived. And he was so glad that he had lived.

The wreck of the _Tribunal_ shifted, and he cried out in pain as the collapsed structure moved around him. The gasp that followed brought more dust, kicked up from the moon’s surface by the wreck, into his lungs and he found himself fighting to breathe as he choked on it.

If he didn’t know that he was starting to become delirious from blood loss, he could’ve sworn that he had heard a cough that was not his own ringing back from the ship. He could’ve sworn that he’d heard the unnatural shifting of the rubble. But delirium was still tugging at his mind, trying to ease his pain with a vision of Kix at his side, trying to comfort him as he waited for Jesse to join him in death.

He knew that death was near when he could feel a pair of hands, firm and warm, stroking the sides of his head. If he opened his eyes, he knew that he would have seen nothing but dark, twisted metal. But with his eyes closed, the touch felt like that of one of his brothers, and that felt like home. So he kept his eyes closed, and when something tugged at the back of his mind, he didn’t hesitate to let go.

Ahsoka knelt in the dust of the moon as she watched Rex cradle Jesse’s head in his arms. Rex had fought to run back into the downed structure as soon as they had landed, leaving her to reluctantly follow. She didn’t think that she could bear to see the bodies of her men so soon, and she had been right. But Rex saw the same bodies that she did, and he needed her to be there, to remind him that somebody he loved was still living. Then they had heard the choking-cough, and they had run through the wreckage of the hanger to Jesse’s side. At least, Rex had.

“Ahsoka.” Rex’s voice broke her train of disassociation. “Ahsoka, he’s pinned. I need your lightsaber.”

“Okay.” She whispers because less than an hour ago, her lightsaber was the only thing stopping this man from killing her. But she obliges, cutting through the barrel of the gun just below Jesse’s back, allowing Rex to cradle him fully in his arms. And she watches as Rex tries to save the man who had just tried to kill him, because Rex is selfless and forgiving. She was certain that if his survival didn’t guarantee hers, that he would have stayed behind in the falling ship to face death at his brothers’ hands.

The smell of bacta permeated the small alcove as Rex swapped the durasteel through Jesse’s stomach for bactapacks. The smell was only slightly more nauseating than the want radiating off of Rex as he tried to save his last solider.

It took days to find all the bodies, all the ones that could be found anyways, and almost just as long to dig their graves. Rex had toiled in the dusty atmosphere of the moon until his muscles burned and he could barely draw breath through the cloud of dust that he had kicked up. But he had continued, and he had dug, and he had whispered an apology to every man that they had found as he laid them to rest.

He didn’t realize that their loss could possibly hurt more than it had until he realized that they could’ve been saved.

Even now, Jesse could barely move from the small camp they had set up under a study section of the wreckage, but he could talk, and he could cry, and he could grasp Rex’s hand with his as they mourned. The effect of the chip was not entirely gone, but any momentary urges it yielded were curbed by Jesse’s inability to stand, let alone fight. But he could sit up, with something or someone to lean on.

“It was all for nothing.” He murmured, resting against Rex’s shoulder as they sat, looking at the graveyard Rex had labored to produce. “Everything was for nothing. Kix-.” His voice broke and Rex leaned his head down to rest against Jesse’s.

“I know.” His voice was hoarse from the dust. “Gods, Jesse. I know.”


	11. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka is confronted by a new inquisitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Character death

It should have never come down to this, she thinks to herself as she paces back and forth in front of the woman she had once called a friend. It should have ended long ago.

“You don’t have to do this.” Ahsoka pleads.

“Yes, I do.” Her choice had been made long ago.

“Barriss…”

“First Sister.” She corrected, not for the first time that day.

Ahsoka shook her head sadly. “No. Not to me.”

“You don’t get to take the high ground here!” She snaps back. She regrets it for a moment as a look of sadness fills Ahsoka’s eyes, before that regret is channeled back into her rage. “You left! You left.” _You left me_ , she wants to say. She wants to hear Ahsoka deny it.

But she doesn’t. “I left.” She agrees instead. “I was hurt, and I chose to run. But I don’t think that I regret my decision. I was a child.”

And for a moment, it seems that she will get her denial.

“But you were also a child. And we should have listened to you then.”

“It’s too late for that.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Well, I do.” She twirls her lightsaber in her hand, letting the red blade dance around her. “Red’s rather suiting for me, don’t you think?”

Ahsoka’s hands fall down to rest on the hilts of the twin blades at her belt. “It really brings out the yellow in your eyes.”

For a moment, her heart flutters at the compliment, the familiar jesting of the sort they’d had during the Clone Wars, before she shuts it down. “You’re mocking me.”

“Oh no, I’m afraid I’m not brave enough to mock such a prestigious Inquisitor such as yourself.” That smile, that knowing smile that used to be passed between them during the war. Ahsoka knows exactly how to wound her fear.

And for a moment, she breaks. “He’s sent me here to kill you.”

“Your leader.” Ahsoka says because she cannot bear to utter his title, his name.

Barriss thinks that they may be the only two who really know who the dark lord of the Sith is. Not just his name, but him. Or, at least, the man he was before. She can only nod her agreement to Ahsoka. “Do you know what he’ll do to me if I fail?” When Ahsoka doesn’t answer, she continues. “He’ll tear me apart. Break my bones, mend the break, break it again. Dig into my skin and my mind. You can’t hide _anything_ from him.” She stopped as her voice began to crack.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

And Barriss wished she could take it all back, preserve the image of Skywalker that Ahsoka still held in her head. But the damage had been done, and Barriss couldn’t take anything back. So she does what she has always done when she falls, take the only way out and fall further.

Her lightsaber slashes into empty space as Ahsoka dodges, a single white blade of the two she now wields igniting, held out between herself and Barriss.

It takes Barriss a few moments to find the other one as she follows the extension of Ahsoka’s arm to the silver hilt pressed against her breast.

When she falters, her blade falling from her hand as her limbs begin to fail her, Ahsoka is there with firm, gentle arms, lowering her gently into an embrace. Barriss’ breaths begin to come in short, quick gasps as she leans into the embrace, wrapping her arms loosely around Ahsoka’s shoulders and burying her face between Ahsoka’s lekku and her neck. She feels safe here, knowing that Vader cannot hurt her anymore, knowing that those are Ahsoka’s forgiving arms wrapping around her shoulders and gently stroking across her skin.

“Thank you.” She whispers against Ahsoka’s lek.

Barriss lost her optimism long ago, but as her senses slowly faded away, she thought that she could hear Ahsoka whispering words of forgiveness into her ear. She would have liked that, to be forgiven.


	12. Hallucinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riyo receives an evening comm from Thorn about Fox and an accident.

When Riyo burst through the door she nearly slammed into the red and white armor before her.

“Thire, Thire, let me see him!” She pounded her fists on his breastplate when he didn’t move. “Thire.” She begged, curling forward into his chest until he wrapped his arms around her, hesitantly placing a hand on the back of her head.

“Thorn’s with him.” He told her as if that would change anything.

“But I’m not.”

Thire was silent for so long that she thought he must have not heard her muffled voice. It was only when she opened her mouth to speak that he continued. “Our helmets can filter most things out. Smoke, gasses, some chemical agents. But some things are too small. Viruses, for example- that’s why the Seppies are working an on anti-clone virus- and most hallucinogens. They’re not used on the battlefield so-.”

“Thire. You’re rambling.” She tried to keep the shake of fear from her voice as she stepped back to look him in the eye.

“We don’t know what they dosed him with but he’s,” Thire waved his hand, “not here.”

“I want to see him, Thire.” She knew that he wouldn’t deny her. Not now. And he didn’t anymore. Instead, he gently tapped the side of her shoulder and turned back into the halls of the barracks, allowing her to follow him through the unfamiliar space to the room that the Commanders of the Guard shared.

Fox was laying on a bunk that she assumed was his own, with a wet rag covering his forehead and Thorn curled up on the bed at his side with a bowl of ice water. Thorn looked up as they entered and grimaced.

Riyo was at his side in a moment, kneeling by the bed and reaching up to cup Fox’s cheek in her hand, barely holding herself steady as his head moved with his short, rapid breaths.

“He’s settled down a little.” Thorn said. “He was screaming for a bit.”

Riyo whispered quiet words that would have had her mother screaming at her at home and gently stroked Fox’s cheek, wiping away the tears or sweat that dripped down his skin. “Why him?”

“It was targeted, but we don’t know why, yet. I assume he put somebeing’s somebody in prison, or a bodybag. Medics can’t do anything so we brought him back here and called you.”

Fox began to murmur something she couldn’t make out and Riyo felt her brow crease in worry. When the words began to make sense, however, it became worse as he begged for her life to be spared and the tears started, or began anew.

“I’m here, Fox, I’m here.” She sobbed, bringing up her other hand to wipe away the forming tears from his cheeks. Behind her, she felt Thire gently squeezing her shoulders. Not until the fit ended did she withdraw her hands and bring them to her own face to sob into the sheets beside him. The cries drowned out the words exchanged between Thorn and Thire until she found Thorn kneeling beside her on the ground, wrapping an arm around her. When her sobs had subsided he tenderly helped her to her feet.

“Do you want to stay through the night?”

“Yes.” She said before she had finished processing Thorn’s question.

“Fresher’s there,” he tilted his head towards the back of the room, “we’ll be sure to mind your presence.”

“Thank you, Thorn.” She clasped his hands in hers before, with only a little help, settling down in the place that Thorn had just occupied between Fox and the wall. She wrapped her arms around Fox’s torso and buried her face into his shoulder, preparing herself for the restless night ahead.

In the morning, she awoke to Fox’s fingers gently tracing over the golden curves on her cheeks with fresh tears shining in his eyes. Wordlessly, she pressed her lips to his fingers and curled up against his chest, just to let him know they were both alive.


	13. “I can’t lose you too”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kix and Finn are sent to search for information in the wake of a First Order massacre.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all remember that Finn and Kix post that was going around for a while? That was good.

Kix stands still, looking around at the battlefield before him. For a moment, he is standing on another battlefield, over fifty years ago, before his eyes land on a helmet that is the wrong shape. He can pretend that the white armor of the First Order troopers is a warped version of the armor he once wore, but the illusion didn’t extend to their helmets.

“Kix.” Calls the one man Kix thinks could start to understand him. “Kix, we need to go.”

The First Order didn’t leave any survivors. There wasn’t much for a medic to do here.

Kix’s grip tightened on his blaster as he turned around and made his way over to Finn, waiting patiently by their speeder bikes.

“You okay?” Finn asks as Kix sullenly mounts the bike.

“Not in the slightest.” Kix laughed bitterly. “This,” he gestures out at the carnage before them, “the beings that did this stand on the same ideology that my brothers died for. I fought for this.”

“So did I.” Finn reminded him.

Kix shrugged. “Same situation, different brothers.”

“Maybe.” Finn leaned down to look at the screen on his bike. “Scanner is picking something up.”

“TIE.” Kix pointed up at the rapidly approaching spacecraft as he slammed down on the accelerator of the bike, shooting off into the trees with Finn’s bike on his heels.

“They saw us!” Finn shouted over the rush of the air around them.

Kix spared a glance down to the scanner to see the blinking red dot behind them. This was a reconnaissance mission, they had no anti-aircraft capacity. When the TIE began to open fire, Kix braced for the flash of pain that would precede his death.

Kix groaned as he came to in a pile of metal scrap, the remains of his bike. He had no memory of the crash.

“Finn?” He called out as he shoved the wreckage off of himself. His back protested, but his limbs obeyed. The old plastoid of his phase two armor was still well suited to protect him from injury, especially under the layer of duraweave he wore to blend in. “Finn!” Kix stumbled to his feet.

The TIE was long gone, but it had left behind the wreckage that Kix had just kicked his way out of and another pile of burning metal that Kix realized was part of Finn’s bike.

“Finn!” He shouted as he stumbled over to the wreckage, pulling away the twisted metal of what had once been a speeder bike to reveal a human form.

Finn flinched as Kix ran his hands over his chest. “Their aim is improving.” He groaned.

“Yes, I’m so proud of them.” Kix scoffed as he gently pulled away the melting fibers from Finn’s side.

“How’s it look, doc?” Finn, trying to stay upbeat despite the agony that Kix knew was blooming in his side.

“Your shirt and your skin have fused. I can clear it, but it’s going to hurt. And out here, the risk of infection is too high.”

“I’ll take the risk.” Finn looked up at him with brown eyes that were too familiar.

“I won’t.” Kix reached into his kit for a sterile bandage. “I can’t lose another soldier.” He unrolled part of the wrapping and folded it over. “Bite down on this.”

Finn obeyed, tensing up as he waited for Kix to finish evaluating the wound. When the bandage made contact with his side, a choked sound forced its way from his throat.

Kix worked the bandage around as tenderly as he could, he had never liked to bring more pain to his brothers, but sometimes that pain saved lives.

“Thank you.” Finn groaned when the bandage had been tucked in.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Kix sat down beside him. “Odds are that I’ll be the one rubbing those fibers back out.”

“Any good anti-clone insults I can throw at you later to make up for it?”

Kix shot Finn an incredulous look before bursting into laughter. “Well, the Seppies used to call us meat droids.”

“No, that’s too rude.” Finn shook his head. “Did you guys ever call your helmets buckets?”

“‘Course we did.”

“How about bucket head?” When Kix chose to laugh instead of respond, Finn continued. “That can be us, the Bucket Boys.”

“Is this helping you distract yourself from the pain?”

“Oh yeah.” Finn chuckled.

Kix shook his head in mirth. “I hope you remember how funny you found this in a few hours when I’m asked to clean out your side.”

“Oh, I will.”

Kix scoffed and lay down beside Finn, groaning a little as his bruised back hit the ground. Someone from the Resistance would come for them soon, but until then, he had one last brother to protect.


	14. Hiding injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riyo asks Thire to accompany her on a trip to the market.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I heard y’all say ‘Riyo and Corrie Guard interactions’

Riyo clutched her knees tighter to her chest as the blasterfire ripped over her. Fox had once assured her that the senatorial speeders were reinforced against blasterfire, but she never thought she’d have to test it. Beside her, Thire was crouched with a blaster rifle braced against the side of the speeder. His hand blaster lay in Riyo’s hands, passed to her as they had exited the vehicle.

“If it makes you feel any better, Riyo, I am ninety percent sure that this is a crime of opportunity.”

Riyo laughed nervously. “And that last ten percent?”

“A combination of many different scenarios fueled by a hatred for either one of us.” Thire stopped as he lined up his sights and took a shot. “And no, I am not fun at parties.”

“I would disagree. Tasering that intruder at the fundraiser a few months ago was fun.”

She was rewarded with a puff of air from Thire’s vocabular. “Fox was so pissed.” Then his helmet raised in alarm and he dropped to the ground beside Riyo as a new barrage of blasterfire rained over them. “Kriff.” He whispered before turning his helmet to the side to look at Riyo.

“Thire?”

“Pass me my blaster?”

Riyo passed the hand blaster to Thire, hoping he wouldn’t notice the shaking in her hands and the burn mark that stretched over her forearm. She could receive treatment later and save Thire from the guilt of allowing her to be injured.

When the blasterfire stopped, Thire rose back to his knees to shoot back in the direction it had come from. He’d only fired off a few shots before his helmet was struck, sending him to the ground.

“Thire!” She gasped, scrambling to his side to gently remove his helmet. “Oh Goddess.” She sobbed in relief when his eyes opened.

“I’m okay. Don’t-!” He hissed in pain as her hand fell to his shoulder.

Riyo jerked her hand back from the melted plastoid. “I am so sorry!” In her panic, she forgot that she was meant to be concealing her arm from him.

“You’re hurt.” Thire reached up for her wrist, gently turning her arm so that he could examine the burn. “When did this happen?”

“When we were evacuating the speeder. Yours?”

“When we were evacuating the speeder.” He pushed himself to a seated position with his good arm, then moved so that his back was to the speeder. “Come here.”

She crawled into his arms without hesitation, allowing him to partially shield her with his limbs. She felt Thire rest his jaw on the top of her head as he readied his blaster, ready to fend off their attackers. Riyo closed her eyes and rested her fingers around the wound in Thire’s shoulder, careful to mind the charred skin. She didn’t know how else to react when Thire was preparing to die for her.

One of the beings that had fired upon them came around the corner of the speeder and Thire fired. A few shots rang out and Riyo felt Thire’s arm fall to his side.

She prepared to die.

“Nine fucking hells.” A familiar voice rang out.

Riyo raised her head to see Stone walked towards them.

“Look at you two. Did you even make it to the market?”

“No.” Thire said coolly. “Because, apparently, this sector has more crime than we’re tracking.”

“Apparently.” Stone glanced over at what Riyo assumed was the bodies of their attackers. “I told you to take Jek and Rys.”

“Well, I normally don’t need a full babysitting comitee.” Riyo jumped in to Thire’s defense. “Besides, I’m sure Commander Thire could have taken them if he wasn’t protecting me.”

Stone’s helmet swiveled back to them. “Are you hurt?”

“We both are.” She confessed.

Stone’s posture changed to one of concern as he made his way over to examine first Riyo’s arm, then Thire’s shoulder. “You won’t be decommissioned yet.” He remarked to Thire. “Pretty sure this is all meat.”

“Unfortunate.” Thire spat as Stone prodded at the wound. “There’s a medkit in our speeder if you’re so inclined.”

Despite Riyo’s protest, both Stone and Thire insisted on treating her wound first, leaving Thire to hold a bacta pack to his shoulder as Stone gently applied bacta, then a long row of interconnecting strips that pulled her skin together. “Lessens the scarring.” He had explained. Then he had lessened the pain as he and Thire argued. “Just take off your blacks.”

“In the middle of the street like a cheap stripper?”

“If I take you back in any condition less than perfect, Thorn will have my head. Take them off!”

When Stone lost the argument and agreed to take Thire to a medic, Riyo sat in the back of his speeder with Thire, gently applying raw bacta through the holes in his blacks.

“Thank you.” He said when she replaced the larger patches and moved to put the medkit back up.

“You saved my life, it’s the least I could do.”

“Still, it’s far more kindness than we’re used to.”

“I know.” She said sadly, giving Thire’s hand a squeeze. “Would you do me one more favor?”

“Anything.” He said without hesitation.

“Don’t tell Fox.”

He wouldn’t let either of them out of his sight ever again if he found out.


	15. "I didn’t mean it”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolffe and Fox argue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just something quick so I don't fall too far behind

“That man was a Jedi, I’m certain of it.” Fox dodged Wolffe’s punch and struck back with another of his own.

Wolffe blocked the punch easily. “Look, no offense to him, but I don’t think that’s what the Jedi look like.”

Fox landed a kick to Wolffe’s side. “He was soaked to the bone, Wolffe.”

“So?” Wolffe yanked Fox’s leg, sending him to the ground. “We’ve waited ten years, and this is what we get?”

“Would you rather wait ten more?” Fox picked himself easily. “He scared Fett off, Wolffe.”

“That’s bantha and you know it.” Wolffe aimed an easily deflectable kick at Fox’s head. “I don’t know when you started believing in wild rumors but-.” His sentence ended in a hard exhale as Fox slammed him to the training mat. He was back on his feet just as quick as Fox was.

“Don’t patronize me.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were about to.”

Wolffe shrugged and threw another punch at Fox. “You’re delusional.”

“He was a Jedi. Ask anyone who saw him!”

“And be a fool like you?”

Fox’s response was cut short by the sound of a buzzer.

Wolffe sighed. “Come on, let’s go eat. I hope you like our food since we’re going to be eating it for another decade.”

“Don’t become a betting man.” Fox retorted as he and Wolffe made their way out of the training center.

Wolffe sat still as the medical droid buzzed around his head. Blood dripped unimpeded from his nose and he made no attempt to stop it from staining his white and yellow armor. He’d give almost anything not to wear yellow again.

The droid made what could have been a happy noise before flying away, leaving Wolffe alone on the medical cot, surrounded by the wounded. From the number of men Wolffe had seen entering and exiting the tent, he wouldn’t have been surprised if everyone had been wounded. And this was far from the only medical tent.

His headache was killing him.

A bomber had hit the AT-TE beside him, sending the tank crashing down onto Wolffe and a few more unfortunate men. He didn’t know their fates. He might not ever know.

The fracturing of his bones was curable, but the blood that ran from his nose and ears had concerned the medical droid enough to keep him in a bed. He hoped that didn’t mean that he was dying. He had never planned on dying in his first fight. Then again, nobody did.

The yellow-striped clone entering the tent didn’t catch his attention until he was right beside his bed.

Wolffe’s face broke into a smile. “Fox.”

“You.” Fox laughed in relief, setting a hand on Wolffe’s shoulder, afraid to do much more.

Wolffe let loose the words he’d been holding in all day. “You’re not a fool.”

Fox’s expression softened. “Wolffe.”

“Look, just listen.” Wolffe sighed. “I thought I was dying, maybe I still am, but all I could think about was our argument and what your last memory would have been.”

“Wolffe. We’re known for arguing.”

“Fox, I’m trying to apologize.”

Fox’s brows gathered together as he took in Wolffe’s bloody nose and ears. “Then I accept your apology.”

“Good, you idiot.”

Fox reached down to take Wolffe’s hands. “If I get to decide if we’re unplugging you, I’m doing it.”

Wolffe tried not to flinch as Fox squeezed his sore tendons. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Would I?” Fox gave his hands another squeeze and rose to leave before the medical droid could return to shoo him away.

With Fox gone, Wolffe lay down on the medical bed and allowed himself to relax knowing that his friend was safe.


	16. "you have to let me go”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stormtrooper is sent to kill a Jedi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y’all ready for the most tender whump I have ever written? AU where the clones’ rapid aging stops at 18 or a serum was administered to some to stop it.

Tatooine was hot. It had every right to be, with binary suns that beat down relentlessly onto its sands that reflected their rays across the landscape, making everything awash with golden light.

He had been golden once too.

But no longer. He had not been golden in a very long time, long enough for the clone to question if he ever was, or if he had just bought into the propaganda. Either way, his armor was as bare as the armor of the young men around him, save for the orange pauldron denoting his rank. The Imperial Army was the first one in which he had served where he felt that everyone looked the same. There was no identity for a stormtrooper.

“Target identified. Identity confirmed.” Read out the man beside him as he peered through the macrobinoculars. “Guess our information was correct.”

“That would be a first.” The commander said impassively. The officers who surrounded him believed him to be a man prone to deadpan comedy. The rookies, for they were called rookies now, believed him to be humorless and cruel. The commander wasn’t sure himself which side of the spectrum he fell on anymore.

“You can say that again, sir.” Laughed the heavy weapons specialist beside him. He fell into the first category. He also had a name, but the commander had stopped associating names with the men under him long ago. He knew their names, their numbers, their entire history within the Imperial Army, but once the white armor fell over his body, they were all indistinguishable stormtroopers.

The commander drew his blaster. This was a battle fifteen years in the making, he would not fail his Empire again. “Let’s move out.”

The Jedi spotted them immediately and switched his course away from the crowded streets, heading into back alleys and quiet roads. He was anticipating a fight and drawing them away from civilians, a move the commander knew well and approved of. His men did not have the trigger disciple that had been installed in him. Stray blasterfire followed the Imperial Army like the commander’s sins.

The Jedi led them into a deserted hanger before stopping, turning around to face them and dropping his cloak, but not yet igniting his blade. “May I ask the occasion?”

The commander was silent, frozen in place at the sight of the man before him. The fifteen years that had marked their parting had not been kind to the Jedi, but he was still unmistakably himself. He could hear one of his men reading the articles of the purge to the Jedi, but it was lost to him as he held back the emotions that he had put away at the end of the Clone War. He would not fail to them again.

The commander was the first to raise his blaster, looking down the barrel straight at the brush of hair he used to push away from the man’s forehead, and fired.

The man reflected the blaster bolt away from them as his lightsaber sprung to life in his hands.

The commander’s squad moved in, opening fire all at once, the blasterfire overwhelming for all but the most-trained Jedi. But Obi-Wan Kenobi had been a Jedi Master and a practitioner of Soresu. Watching the man’s blade arc to reflect away the blasterfire, the commander concluded that he was still a master of Soresu. It was not long before the commander’s squad lay dead at his feet.

“Who are you?” The man questioned, letting his blade fall lax at his side.

“If you’re asking that question, you already know the answer.” The commander responded.

“I want to hear you say it.”

“A stormtrooper commander in the service of the Empire.” He had no name now.

“Well, you must be rather prestigious if they sent you.” Kenobi was baiting him, but he’d had fifteen long years to respond to the bait.

He let his blaster fall to the floor and reached for the vibroblade dagger at his side. This death would be personal. There was no mercy in his strikes as he swung the blade at the Jedi, forcing the man to dodge or to bring up his blade in protection. Forcing him to strike back. The commander went for the Jedi’s throat, leaving himself open to attack. His strike was blocked by a hand around his wrist and he felt the heat of a lightsaber on his own throat, even through the layers of armor.

“I have orders to kill you.”

“But that’s not why you’re here.” Those beautiful blue eyes could always read his mind. “You came here to die.”

The commander’s arm was beginning to shake against the Jedi’s grip on his wrist. “I came here to finish what we started.”

“I will not kill you.”

“You won’t have a choice.”

“We both have a choice this time.”

The Jedi’s gravity was too much and the vibroblade fell from his fingers.

“Cody.”

The weight of his name on his enemy’s lips was enough to finally fell him. The commander’s legs gave out from under him and the Jedi fell with him, catching him in his arms and pulling him close.

“Cody.” Obi-Wan whispered as he wrapped his arms around Cody’s body, pulling his helmet to rest in the crook of his neck.

“I’m not- I’m not-.” He couldn’t bear to say his former name anymore.

“You have always been my Cody.”

If he didn’t know any better, he would have believed it as he allowed himself to melt into Obi-Wan’s embrace. The years had not been kind to the man, but the body under Cody’s touch was unmistakably that of the man whose love Cody had locked away from himself for years, alongside their names. When the embrace ended, Cody sat up and slowly removed his helmet, baring his face. The distraction worked as Obi-Wan’s gaze locked on his features, and Cody snatched the lightsaber from his grasp. He had not held a lightsaber since the war, but he remembered how it had once felt in his hand as he pressed the metal to his breast. “I have my orders. Kill you or die.”

Obi-Wan’s fingers wrapped around Cody, prying them away from the ignition. “I cannot allow either of those things to occur.”

“Please.” He could see Obi-Wan’s eyes soften at the desperation on his face.

“I won’t hurt you.” He protested, just as Cody had imagined he would.

“You could never hurt me. I won’t feel a thing if you light the blade.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “I just got you back.”

Cody’s hands fell from the handle in defeat. Himself he could hurt, he would push his body until it broke, but the pain that he was inflicting on the man he had sworn to never hurt reflected on himself tenfold.

“Come back with me.” Obi-Wan drew the lightsaber away. “Come to my house, eat with me.”

“I will not eat. If you do not kill me, I will allow myself to die rather than obey the Empire.”

Something broke in Obi-Wan’s eyes. “You will eat, and you will watch the sunset with me, and you may lay by my side if you wish, and I promise you, you will not wake.” One last day.

“I accept.”

The blankets covering the rough bed were coarse, but they enveloped him as softly as Obi-Wan’s arms, wrapping themselves around Cody’s waist and pulling him close so that his bare back was pressed to Obi-Wan’s bare chest. Then the warm skin behind him pulled away to be replaced by the gentle brush of Obi-Wan’s beard as he pressed kisses to the scars covering Cody’s shoulders, some familiar to him, most not. The tension in Cody’s body melted away with each kiss, each dedication of his former general’s love for him.

“Do you want to…?” The request died on his lips with uncertainty. He was content, but he couldn’t read Obi-Wan’s mind like the man could read his.

“Not if you’re not up for it.” Obi-Wan pressed a firm kiss to the base of Cody’s neck before pulling him back to his chest and resting his head on the nape of his neck. “What do you want?” He would not intrude on Cody’s thoughts without permission.

“Just hold me.”

Obi-Wan pressed his lips to Cody’s skin once more. “I’ll never let you go.”

“You’ll have to let me go one day.” Cody huffed.

“No, no I don’t.”

“I want you to.”

“Relationships are about compromise, my dear.”

For a few moments, Cody was silent as he weighed his next words. “I still love you.”

“And I you.” Obi-Wan reassured him. “I don’t think I ever stopped loving you.”

“Even after I tried to kill you?”

“It wasn’t you. We were both victims.”

Cody closed his eyes and brought up a hand to rest over Obi-Wan’s crossed arms. “Thank you.” He could face death without remorse in his lover’s embrace.

He woke to find death not so different than life. The familiarity of the room he had fallen asleep in, the still-warm bed at his back, his feeling of himself in his body. But when the smell of cooking reached him, he realized why.

“You lied to me.” He spat as he stormed into the kitchen.

Obi-Wan, fully clothed now, stood over the stove watching over a frying pan. “I did.”

Cody collided with him hard, forcing him against the wall. “Why?”

Obi-Wan didn’t struggle under his grip. “Because I love you. I tried, Cody, I tried to keep my promise, but I couldn’t lose you again.”

For a moment, Cody thought that he was going to hit him. But when the rush of emotion ended he found that his arms had remained still as his head moved forward to kiss Obi-Wan. Anger gave way to monumental relief as he took in the breath of the man he loved. Obi-Wan’s hand moved up to tangle his fingers in the short curls that Cody’s regulation cut allowed and pull him deeper into the kiss until Cody’s knees shook. Only then did Obi-Wan allow him to draw away. “Breakfast is burning.”

“I don’t care.” Cody bent back down to press a softer kiss to Obi-Wan’s lips.

Obi-Wan kissed him back as he pushed himself away from the wall, slowly turning their bodies until he had Cody trapped. Then he stepped back. “You will care when the house is on fire.”

Cody stood still in the corner, watching Obi-Wan flip the food in the skillet. When the food was no longer in danger of bursting into flames, Obi-Wan turned back to him. “Come here.” When Cody had crossed the room to stand behind him, Obi-Wan reached back and pulled his hands around his waist. Cody gave into the want without thinking, leaning his head down to rest on Obi-Wan’s shoulder as he watched the food cook.

“Let’s make a new deal.” Cody said.

“What deal is that?”

“I can ask you at any time to fulfill your promise, and you will. But I will refrain from it unless there is no other choice. I will not be a mindless slave again.” He knew Obi-Wan would understand the unspoken part of his request, concerning one order executed unwillingly.

Obi-Wan’s shoulders tensed under Cody for a moment, before relaxing as he sighed. “Okay.”

And promises were kept. Even on the nights when everything in his soul burned, Cody held back from his request as he shook in Obi-Wan’s arms. On those nights, he made himself a different promise- he would see the sunset once more. The sunsets were the only thing on Tatooine comparable to home, when he and his brothers could stand out on the platforms above the waters of Kamino and watch the waves kick up the dying light. Here, the waves of sand spread the pink and purple spread of the dying sunlight around just as the waves at home once had. Maybe they still did, but he couldn’t go home anymore. The Empire had taken that from him too. But they hadn’t taken Obi-Wan, who still looked at him as he had before and whose touch was as gentle as ever despite the rough life he had endured.

In the end, Cody was glad to have found him again. The headaches meant nothing at first, it was easy to become dehydrated on Tatooine, neither did the nausea, the heat that burned down from the suns was nauseating and the blinding sunlight could disorient even the most seasoned being. It was only when he woke and couldn’t move the left side of his body that the problem became real.

He had tried to make light of the situation. “Guess they just go bad.” But he knew, and Obi-Wan knew, what had happened on Ringo Vinda.

That was how he found himself on the cliff’s edge near Obi-Wan’s home, watching the binary sunset color the sands beneath them.

“We don’t have to do this.” But Obi-Wan knew as well as he that they did.

“I will not die a mindless slave to the Emperor. And I will not let that man try to hurt you.” He knelt down in the sand before Obi-Wan. “Please.”

Obi-Wan knelt before him, his head silhouetted like a god by the light of the suns, and slowly drew his lightsaber from its belt. Cody guided the handle to his chest, holding it there while he pressed a hand to Obi-Wan’s jaw and leaned forward to tenderly kiss him, putting all of his love and regrets into the act of love.

“Thank you.” He whispered to him as he drew back, leaving his hand cupping Obi-Wan’s cheek.

“I love you.” Tears were beginning to well in Obi-Wan’s eyes.

“And I love you.” Cody gently wiped the tears away with his thumb as the grip of his other hand tightened on the handle of the lightsaber. “But you have to let me go.”

He had been right before, he never felt the blade. Only his hand falling from Obi-Wan’s face. As the strength drained from his body, Obi-Wan caught him, gently lowering him into his lap. The last thing Cody saw was Obi-Wan’s silhouette in the golden light, reminding him how he had been golden once too.


End file.
